Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Doris and I arranged a personal swap. We started talking about it in June, we got around to swapping in November. We decided to swap a pillow cover and a mug rug made from scraps.

Here's what she made:

A cute applique pillow (her original design, no less!) that matches my daughter's bed perfectly! Even down to the top of the flower...the blue and pink of the flower helps tie in the blue, pink and red pillowcase that doesn't really match her bed but I can't help but using it anyway. The throw pillow ties the whole room together! We didn't talk specific colors at all, so how wonderful that it matches oh-so-perfectly. I'm tickled pink! (The cute puppy was made by my sweet friend Linda.)

And she made the sweetest mug rug! With my initials embroidered on it and everything. I love that it can be used for a mug rug or as a mini placemat, too. Thanks so much, Doris! I love what you sent!

This is what I sent to Doris. The pillow cover may look slightly familiar. (This was my second of 3 versions...so far!) The mug rug was made using a block pattern from this magazine. (thank you, Tara!) Actually, the block that is shown on the cover. It was fun to experiment with a new to me block. It was an intense little baby to piece. Phew! But fun, nonetheless.

Terri, my fellow Wisconsin sewing pal, sent me a package of Christmas goodies! She is on the ball! I got these a few weeks ago. Right after HER birthday, she's sending me presents. What a good friend!

She made this cute little mini quilt. Again, perfect for a mini placemat...it would be just the perfect size for a bowl of soup.

And she sent a bunch of other treats, too. So much cuteness! Thanks so much, Terri!

Ok, and just for a laugh....

I told my daughter to get dressed this morning. This is what she picked out.

Monday, December 13, 2010

We had a good old-fashioned snow storm over the weekend. It was fun to be snowed in...until it came time for shoveling. Oh, my achin' back!

Thankfully my neighbor, Larry, came over with his snowblower on Sunday morning and helped us out immensely! We still had a chance to shovel a bunch. Hours!

We have snowpiles that are taller than a 4th grader. (Ha!)

I have more shoveling to do today. I hope to unearth the front door before the kids get home from school. Just trying to work up the courage to tackle that snow drift. Why on earth do I live here again???

Being snowed gave me plenty of time to cut into 70+ of my favorite fabrics.

It was something akin to a fabric massacre (or party?)....

and the results are a new, simple quilt top. I love it, love it, LOVE it!

My husband said that it looked like big chunks of fabric. (Cheryl, has he been talking to you???) I may have been slightly offended.

Later, he was kind enough to say about the quilt, "I'm sure that it will keep us nice and warm."

Tuesday, December 07, 2010

This little quilt is the result of the second round of my little scrap challenge. Anne sent me several gorgeous Liberty scraps, which I LOVE. (You can see some of what she sent here.) She challenged me to make a mini quilt that included triangles and hand quilting.

The triangle blocks finish at about 1.5", so they aren't big at all. The triangles were actually tolerable, even at that tiny size. The hand quilting, however, was very enjoyable. Although, I must learn how to bury my knots correctly. I know how to in theory, but in reality, I had a few knots pop through the front. It was not a big deal, I just had to re-do the stitching on those blocks. I used a variety of threads in a variety of colors (I have plenty), trying to match the patchwork as much as possible.

For the back, I used a fat quarter from my stash. I love how it matches the feel of the front even though it is a completely different fabric line/manufacturer. It's handy that the threads blend in, too. I got the loveliest thank you from Anne saying that the quilt made it safely to it's destination. This quilt now has a home in the UK, which delights me to no end for some reason. :) It measures about 18" square.

I absolutely loved working on this project and I love this challenge concept in and of itself. It's been a great exercise in breaking out of my rut. I know I get stuck in my rut and it's quite refreshing to break out of it every once in awhile. I plan/hope to open up the challenge for round 3 sometime early next year.

Friday, December 03, 2010

Thanks for all your gentle comments on my post yesterday. I was sooo nervous to post those photos, but at the same time I really wanted to. It's good to keep it real! And it felt good to get that off my chest. I cleaned up last night and took a little break. Just what I needed.

Today I'm back at it! :)

I'm making a pair of throw pillows for the annual Women's Christmas Dinner silent auction at my church. The auction is on Tuesday. I'm stuck at what to back them with.

Originally, I planned on backing them with white and binding them in the red bliss dot. It would look lovely, but I got to thinking that it may be too much white? I'm not afraid of white-I use it a lot-but maybe other people would think they are too impractical?

So I rummaged through my stash and I found this red katie jump rope print. It matches well in color, but are the flowers too non-Christmasy? Again, it wouldn't bother me, but would other people think it's weird on a Christmas pillow?

Those are my two options, because I really want (and need!) to use what I have. Oh, and I should add, they are pillow covers, so they will be totally removable and washable. What would you choose?

Wednesday, December 01, 2010

This quilt has taught me a lot. I pieced circles, which was way easier than I thought, thanks my great teacher and neighbor Marcia.

I quilted circles (on solids-doh! what was I thinking?) for the first time, which was a lot harder than I thought. I learned to let go of some of my perfectionist tendencies. Just a little bit.

I so appreciated everyone's comments on this post. It helped me immensely! I was able to objectively see that I was being too hard on myself. The quilting never got ripped out. I went with it, mainly due to the time factor. Someone had commented that I would be able to finish a few more quilts in the time that it would take to rip out the stitching in this one. That did it! This was basically a practice quilt anyway. The bubble in the backing that I was so worried about shrunk quite a bit, thanks to the homespun fabric that I used. What a relief.

After all is said and done, I rather like this little quilt. It measures 41" x 54" after washing.